Wheelman Brake Drum Refinishing Fail
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:28 pm
Greetings:
Recently Flash's brakes have come under scrutiny for a distinctively J*erk-y operation. Maybe it's the racy Malossi pads, or maybe because the various Flashes have gone about TWICE as fast as the brakes are designed to handle. Whatever the reason, application of either brake lately has resulted in eyeballs jiggling crazily in their sockets, and several dental fillings coming loose. That can mean only two things:
A. Wheelman has a seizure disorder, or
2. The drum section of both rims has overheated causing them to become ovals instead of perfect circles.
You can buy brand-new Metropolitan rims for about $125, but my left kidney hasn't completely grown back since my Vespa purchases. Also, I'd have to dis- and re-mount the Conti tires, something I dislike intensely to do.
Nobody I know refinishes old-school brake drums anymore, mainly because drum brakes have gone the way of other quaint traditions like Steam power and the iPhone 6. Even if there was a resurfacing machine anywhere near Deepinnaharta, I'm not sure they could accommodate the 10" rims and roughly 4" drum surfaces. What is a cheap bastich like myself to do?
After much Wheel-reflection, I came up with a possible solution: What if the brake shoes themselves were abrasive enough to remove material? A steady application of very light lever pressure - one click at a time - would perform the same function as the service station's drum lathe, only Sanding instead of cutting material away. A little more thought and I came up with this Idea: Cut strips to match the area of the brake pads pretty closely. Next painted up with the Contact Cement: and finally pressed and rolled the sandpaper onto the pads, making sure the paper wrapped around the leading edge of the pad so it wouldn't be stripped off as the drum spins. I planned to spin the rim by pressing a drill chuck against the tire like an old Whizzer moped. That part worked, briefly.
Seems like a sure-win, right? Is Wheelman not the smartest human ever to inhabit this mudball? Uhh, not so fast...
Problem 1: It was a coax to wiggle the brake panel back into position over the drum on the wheel. It seems paper and cement thickened the overall dimension of the brakes, and it had to be "walked" over the rim's lip into position against the friction surfaces of the drum. If the stock brakes were more worn than mine were, things might've worked better. As it was,
Problem 2: Contact between the sandpapered shoes and the drum lining was a bit firm, even with the brake cable adjusted to slack. I could turn the tire easily for about 3/8ths of a revolution, but the drum was SO oval that it was hard to turn through the tight spot, every half-spin. I soldiered on, finding the tight spot and using a Back-and-Forth motion, got it to spin all the way around, still "catching" a bit every half-spin. One half turn of the cable adjustor and the same issue arose and was overcome. I repeated this about 6 times until...
Problem 3: Contact cement evidently lacks the heat tolerance of whatever Voodoo they use to bond ceramic lining material to the steel (aluminum?) shoes. It would appear the sandpaper wore out, and the cement let go causing the sandpaper to curl and leading to....
Problem 4: It took me about 30 minutes before I was able to pry the brake panel back out of the drum. The sandpaper was almost worn through in spots, and one leading edge had lifted and retroflexed, resulting in the Paper Jam from *.
One bright spot: After cleaning up the stock shoes and the grit in the drum, I reinstalled the wheel and test drove. It's definitely a LOT better than it was. Maybe good enough to try it on the rear rim if I can find a set of REALLY worn stock shoes somewhere. It sure will be easier to spin the rear wheel: Engine Power!
Recently Flash's brakes have come under scrutiny for a distinctively J*erk-y operation. Maybe it's the racy Malossi pads, or maybe because the various Flashes have gone about TWICE as fast as the brakes are designed to handle. Whatever the reason, application of either brake lately has resulted in eyeballs jiggling crazily in their sockets, and several dental fillings coming loose. That can mean only two things:
A. Wheelman has a seizure disorder, or
2. The drum section of both rims has overheated causing them to become ovals instead of perfect circles.
You can buy brand-new Metropolitan rims for about $125, but my left kidney hasn't completely grown back since my Vespa purchases. Also, I'd have to dis- and re-mount the Conti tires, something I dislike intensely to do.
Nobody I know refinishes old-school brake drums anymore, mainly because drum brakes have gone the way of other quaint traditions like Steam power and the iPhone 6. Even if there was a resurfacing machine anywhere near Deepinnaharta, I'm not sure they could accommodate the 10" rims and roughly 4" drum surfaces. What is a cheap bastich like myself to do?
After much Wheel-reflection, I came up with a possible solution: What if the brake shoes themselves were abrasive enough to remove material? A steady application of very light lever pressure - one click at a time - would perform the same function as the service station's drum lathe, only Sanding instead of cutting material away. A little more thought and I came up with this Idea: Cut strips to match the area of the brake pads pretty closely. Next painted up with the Contact Cement: and finally pressed and rolled the sandpaper onto the pads, making sure the paper wrapped around the leading edge of the pad so it wouldn't be stripped off as the drum spins. I planned to spin the rim by pressing a drill chuck against the tire like an old Whizzer moped. That part worked, briefly.
Seems like a sure-win, right? Is Wheelman not the smartest human ever to inhabit this mudball? Uhh, not so fast...
Problem 1: It was a coax to wiggle the brake panel back into position over the drum on the wheel. It seems paper and cement thickened the overall dimension of the brakes, and it had to be "walked" over the rim's lip into position against the friction surfaces of the drum. If the stock brakes were more worn than mine were, things might've worked better. As it was,
Problem 2: Contact between the sandpapered shoes and the drum lining was a bit firm, even with the brake cable adjusted to slack. I could turn the tire easily for about 3/8ths of a revolution, but the drum was SO oval that it was hard to turn through the tight spot, every half-spin. I soldiered on, finding the tight spot and using a Back-and-Forth motion, got it to spin all the way around, still "catching" a bit every half-spin. One half turn of the cable adjustor and the same issue arose and was overcome. I repeated this about 6 times until...
Problem 3: Contact cement evidently lacks the heat tolerance of whatever Voodoo they use to bond ceramic lining material to the steel (aluminum?) shoes. It would appear the sandpaper wore out, and the cement let go causing the sandpaper to curl and leading to....
Problem 4: It took me about 30 minutes before I was able to pry the brake panel back out of the drum. The sandpaper was almost worn through in spots, and one leading edge had lifted and retroflexed, resulting in the Paper Jam from *.
One bright spot: After cleaning up the stock shoes and the grit in the drum, I reinstalled the wheel and test drove. It's definitely a LOT better than it was. Maybe good enough to try it on the rear rim if I can find a set of REALLY worn stock shoes somewhere. It sure will be easier to spin the rear wheel: Engine Power!